An abortion clinic overcomes arson with resolve

"The person on the other line said someone had bombed the clinic. No one was hurt, and they'd let me know when there was a plan," Amanda says. "For about three seconds, I thought, Oh good, I don't have to work today. Then I just gasped when it hit me." Amanda declined to use her last name, because it could make her a target, she says.

Lobbyists drop big bucks on politicians. Is it Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for New Mexicans? What did someone steal from "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"? How high could UNM's entry GPA requirement go?

Will the city make improvements to its STOP program, or will red-light cameras wink out of existence?

By Marisa Demarco

A task force appointed by Mayor Martin Chavez says if problems with the red-light camera program aren't fixed, it should be discarded. Ted Shogry, a task force staff member, reported to the City Council at its Wednesday, Jan. 23, meeting. "The study group had one main recommendation, and that basically is to continue the STOP Program, but to improve it."

Our future in the oil patch?

By Jim Scarantino

A Texas company that stirred controversy with plans to produce oil near Santa Fe has been exploring for natural gas on Albuquerque’s Southwest Mesa. Tecton Energy of Houston won’t say what it’s found after six months of exploration. But the company is punching more wells into the ground to pursue its hunch that the area holds valuable quantities of natural gas.

African or American?

By Hakim Bellamy

An independent researcher on political assassinations, covert operations and hidden history, John Judge calls himself an “alternative historian.” I liken myself to an “a-historian,” whose only noble crusade is to correct the miseducation of me.

Dateline: Australia--On Jan. 22, a man in his late 20s was attacked by an alligator near a popular tourist spot on the Mary River in Northern Australia. To add insult to injury, unlucky Jason Grant also ended up getting shot by a rescuer who was trying to free him from the reptile’s jaws. Grant was collecting crocodile eggs at a remote reptile farm when he found his arm locked between the teeth of an angry alligator. For a few terrifying moments, the animal “splashed about,” shaking its victim before the intervention of fellow worker Zac Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald fired two shots at the saltwater croc. One hit the target, but the other struck Grant in the arm. Grant was flown by helicopter from Marraki Station, 75 miles east of Darwin, to the Royal Darwin Hospital for emergency surgery on both the bite and bullet wounds. He was reported to be in stable condition following his treatment. “They think he’s probably got a broken arm and soft tissue damage from the bites and he’s got a bullet wound on the upper part of the arm,” Mick Burns, owner of the Darwin Crocodile Farm, told news.com.au. “His first words to me were: ‘I don't think I’ll be at work for a couple of days.’ ”

Only in a Democratic debate can Barack Obama be asked a question about who would be the “first black president.” Contrary to physical evidence, in some circles, people actually feel that Bill Clinton was. Obama acted above these contentious remarks, even making a joke about it. This was his way of dealing with it, but I could see him crawling within his own skin.